Universal clamp



' 1936- w. o. CHRISTY 2,040,466

UNIVERSAL CLAMP Filed Sept. 29, 1933 mm mm M Z l n,

iii

Patented May 12, 1936 2,040,466 UNIVERSAL CLAMP William 0. Christy, Akron, Ohio, assignor to Wingfoot Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application September 29, 1933, Serial No. 691,500 11 Claims. (Cl. 154-9) having surfaces between This invention relates to a clamp having flexible means associated therewith to permit clamping with substantially equally distributed pressure of articles having irregular surfaces.

An object of the invention is to provide a clamp which an article is to vided with means, as indicated at I I, to permit pivotal mounting of the arm whereby it may be swung into and out of clamping position. Arranged against the lower face of this am, in any suitable manner, is a flexible, fluid-containing member I2 formed of rubber reinforced with be held, either or both of the surfaces being fabric, or of any other suitable material, such as adapted to flex substantially universally whereby is used in air bags utilized in shaping pneumatic to accommodate an article having an irregular tires. This member l2 need not be secured to surface, such as atread band for apneumatic tire. the arm it, as will become apparent, although 10 Another object is to provide a clamp arm there is no objection to securing it if desired. having a longitudinal fluid chamber therein, the Member l2 preferably is substantially square in fluid being compressible to permit flexing of the cross section when not flexed and the walls are arm. relatively thick in order to withstand repeated A further object is to provide a clamp adapted flexing. 15 to securely hold articles having irregular surfaces A plurality of substantially iJ-shaped metallic and to obtain a substantially uniform distribution members it are mounted for sliding movement of pressure on such surfaces. with respect to the arm it toward and from an A further object is to provide a clamp having object to be clamped. These U-shaped members a plurality of article-engaging members movable se ve to confine the flexible member within a toward and from an article to be clamped, and to pa defined y the ow r face of the arm it provide for adjustment of said members longi-- and the inner faces of the U-shaped members. tudinally of the clamp. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the U-shaped mem= The foregoing and other objects and advanbers have inwardly extending projections id tages of the invention will become apparent from which Overlap the s f the arm m and termi the following description in connection with the note a short dis a from the body p ti n f accompanying drawing, wherein 'I have shown t is a The Size of 13114388 uhaped m mbers one embodiment of the invention. In this show preferably is Such that When the p l c s M ing; are resting on the base of the arm Ni. as in Fig. 3, Fig. l is a partial side elevation of a tread the flexible member Will fi s y in fleXE -l splicing machine having my clamp associated condition in the space provided therefor. Howthe with; ever, this flexible member can, if necessary, re-

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the clamp with parts quire some inflation before filling the p e and broken away and shown in section, its function in the device will not be aiiected Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on line thereby- 3 3 of Fig, 1, The members l3 are confined against material Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially o li longitudinal movement between a laterally prol-t of Fig. 2 with the tread band and the c1amp-= ie tins flan r l l5 f arm l 0 and a removable ing base omitted, securing plate to which is of suflicient size to Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on line prevent'displacement of the members. Plate i6 is 40 5-5 of Fig. 3. secured to arm W by bolts l! or the like, which Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on line are threaded into the arm. As clearly shown in 8-6 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6, the U-shaped member arranged nextto Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the clamp. plate i5 is somewhat diflerent from the remain- Referring to the drawing, it will be noted that ing members and, therefore, will be given the I have shown my invention as adapted for use numeral I3 to avoid confusion. This member with a tread-splicing machine, such as is disl3 fits against the bottom face of arm 66 and is closed in the co-pending application of J, I. provided with projections It similar to projec- Haase, Ser. No. 525,416, filed March 26, 1931, now tions it. Hence member 83 may be moved lon- Patent No. 2,024,577 dated December 17, 1935, gitudinally of arm to but cannot slide toward or but it will be understood that the invention is capable of many other and varied uses.

The clamp comprises a metallic arm m which, in this instance, is formed as an inverted T in cross section, and one end of the arm is profrom the article to be clamped. Container l2 rests against the inner face of member l3 and the latter defines one end of the space containing member ll, the other end of which is defined by the face of lug l5.

It will be apparent that the U-shaped members may easily be assembled with the device by removing plate It, then sliding the required number of U-shaped members longitudinally into position with their projections overlapping the base of the arm l0, and then securing the plate in position. After the device has been assembled it frequently is necessary to adjust the U-shaped members'whereby they will be neither too loose nor too tight and this adjustment is made possible by means of set screws H which extend through plate I6 and bear against member l3. Obviously member l8 may be moved longitudinally of arm l 0 by turning screws l1 and the U-shaped members can thereby be adjusted at will.

A valve stem I8 is secured to the flexible member and projects through an opening in arm ID. This stem may be held in position by a nut I9 threaded thereon and itwill be apparent that fluid may pass into and out of the flexible member through the stem, and the amount of such fluid retained in the member may be controlled thereby.

Associated with the clamp arm I0 is an articlesupporting base 20 which preferably is stationary with respect to arm Ill and in this instance is formed with a flat upper surface adapted to receive an article such as the end portion of a tread band 2|.

In the use of the device the article to be clamped is arranged on the base 20 and its irregular surface is placed in contact with the slidable members l3 by swinging the arm Iii about its pivot, as will be understood. Pressure from any suitable source may be utilized to hold the arm in proper position. As the members ll engage the surface of the article they will slide with respect to the arm i 0 toward and from the article to conform to the irregularities of the surface, substantially as shown in Fig. 2. This sliding action 01 the members is opposed by fluid pressure in the container i 2 and this pressure may be regulated and varied through the valve stem It. It will be observed that the invention permits the article to be engaged and clamped over its entire irregular surface.

The device has particular utility when used with a splicing machine, such as the machine disclosed in the said co-pending application of J. I. Haase, a portion of which is shown in side elevation in Fig. 1. In this machine a pair of the clamping arms is utilized to securely hold in spaced relation the end portions of a tread unit which is to be spliced. The clamping arms are adapted to securely hold the end portions of the tread while they are being trimmed by knives 22 and while the splice is being made. when the clamping device is used with the machine shown in Fig. 1, pressure for holding the arms iii in proper clamping position is provided by means of a double-acting fluid pressure cylinder23 having a piston operable therein which is connected to a piston rod 24, the latter being pivotally connected to an arm 25 which may be formed integral with arm ill or which may be associated therewith in any manner whereby substantially a bell crank arrangement is provided between the arms l0 and 25.

In forming a splice it sometimes is desirable to serrate the ends to be joined. When this is done the knives 22 are serrated as at 26, whereby when they trim the ends 01 the tread unit those ends will also be serrated. To accommodate these serrated knives as they perfom the trimming operation, one edge of the U-shaped members II and the base 20 may also be serrated substantially as shown at 21 in Fig. 5. These serrations on the members I! and base 20, when they are deemed necessary, are preferably formed in projections 22 on said elements (see Figs. 3, 4, 6, and '7). However, it will be apparent that the universal action of the clamping device is the same, regardless of whether or not serrations are provided thereon and the latter therefore are not essential to the operation of the device.

When the clamping device is used with the type of machine shown in Fig. 1 it has been found that the best results are obtained if atmospheric pressure or as much as 35 pounds per square inch is maintained in container l2 to oppose the sliding action of members I! until after the edges to be spliced have been trimmed. Then the pressure is increased to about pounds per square inch in the container l2, causing the ends of the tread unit to assume a slightly convex contour prior to the splicing operation, whereby these ends can be spliced without trapping air in the splice. However, the amount of pressure in container i2 can be varied to suit the particular article being clamped, depending upon the operations to be performed on the article while clamped and the use to which the article will be put.

If it is desired to clamp an article, two sides of which have irregular surfaces, the pneumatic arrangement may easily be duplicated and applied to both sides simultaneously.

It is believed to be obvious that I have provided a novel clamping device which is substantially universal in its action, which is simple and inexpensive in construction, and which easily may be repaired in case' of damage.

Although I have illustrated one form of the invention it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to such form, but that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a base, a clamping arm, a plurality of article-engaging members movable on said arm toward and from an article on said base, and fluid pressure means flexibly opposing movement of said members.

2. In combination with a base, a clamping arm, a plurality of article-engaging members movable on said arm toward and from an article on said base, and pneumatic means arranged between-said arm and said article-engaging members to flexibly oppose movement of the latter.

3. Ina clamping device of the character described, an arm, a plurality of article-engaging members slidable on said arm toward and from an article to be engaged, and means pneumatically opposing movement of said members.

4. In a clamping device of the character de 60 scribed, an arm, a plurality of article-engaging members movable on said arm toward and from an article to be engaged, a flexible member arranged between said arm and saidarticle-engaging members to oppose movement of the latter, said article engaging members being movable longitudinally on said arm for assembly in proper position, a longitudinally movable pressure mem ber arranged on said arm outwardly of said article engaging members, and means for applying pressure tosaid last-named member to insure proper longitudinal spacing of said article engaging members.

5. In-a clamping device of the character desaid article-engaging members to flexibly oppose movement of the latter.

6. In a clamp oi the character described, an

arm, a flexible fluid-containing member cooperating with the arm, and a plurality oi movable article-engaging members carried by the arm and substantially surrounding the fluid-containing member, the latter flexibly opposing movement of the article-engaging members.

7. Ina clamp oi the character described, an arm, a flexible member cooperating with one side of the arm, and a plurality oimovable articleen aging members carried by the arm and substantially surrounding the flexible member, the latter flexibly opposing movement of the articleengaging members.

8. A clamping member comprising an arm substantially T-shaped in cross section, a plurality 01' substantially U-shaped article-engaging members mounted on said arm and forming therewith a space defined by the interior surfaces of the U- shaped members and one side of said arm, said U- shaped members being movable to vary the size 01' said space, and a flexible member in said space opposing movement of the U-shaped members.

9. In combination with a base, a clamping arm, a plurality of flexibly mounted article-engaging members movable on said arm toward and from an article on said base, and means including an inflexible member mounted at one end of the arm for engagement with an adjacent article- 'engaging member and movable to regulate the longitudinal spacing 01 said article-engaging members on said a 10. In combination with a base, a clamping arm,

a plurality of article-engaging members slidable on said arm toward and from an article on'said base, means flexibly opposing movement of said members, means for regulating the longitudinal spacing of said members on said arm including a plate mounted at one end of the arm for longitudinal movement thereon, and means for moving the plate longitudinally of the arm.

11. In a clamping device of the character described, an arm, a plurality of 1 rticle engaging members slidable on said arm toward and from 

